Author Archives: Devhra Bennettjones

Native Voices: Keynote Presentation and Exhibit Opening

Posted on by

Suzanne Singer gives the keynote address to kick off the Native Voices exhibit.

On Thursday, July 26, Dr. Suzanne Singer launched the Native Voices exhibit opening giving her keynote presentation after introductions by Xuemao Wang, Dean, University of Cincinnati Libraries; Philip Diller, MD/PhD, Chair and Fred Lazarus Jr Endowed Professor of Family and Community Medicine; and Bleuzette Marshall, PhD, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at UC. Dr. Singer is an Energy Systems and Thermal Analyst in the Computational Engineering Division at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA.  Her talk focused on the intersections between land, energy, and health in the Navajo community.

After the presentation attendees were encouraged to visit the exhibit and enjoy some of the catered hors d’oeuvres. In addition to the Native Voices exhibit, which is made up primarily of oral histories, a supplementary poster presentation also will run concurrently with the exhibit and be on display alongside the Native Voices listening stations. The posters are a capstone project from a UC Medical Botany class taught by Theresa M. Culley, Ph.D. and Eric Tepe, Ph.D during spring semester, 2018. The posters examine how Native Americans used indigenous plants to maintain health and hygiene.

Panels in the Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness exhibit.

Do try to attend one of the Native Voices lectures over the next several weeks. On Wednesday, August 8th, Madeleine Fix will present “Cincinnati’s Public Landing, the Measles, and Wyandot Removal.”  If you are unable to attend, stay turned for more recaps.

A schedule of the remaining lectures is available online. And thank you so much for your continued support of this exhibit and its additional programming.

In the carousel below, please enjoy some of the images taken at the keynote and exhibit opening.

Native Voices Children’s Programming Event a Success

Posted on by

Last week several UC Libraries (HSL, CECH, Langsam) collaborated to produce the first installment in our Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness public programming. This inaugural event focused specifically on children as Langsam Library received a visit from twenty-four students of the Arlitt Child & Family Research & Education Center. Cheryl Ghosh, Senior Librarian at UC’s CECH Library put together an amazing program of dramatic skits, activity stations, and multi-media fun.

First, the 3 to 5-year-olds were treated to an introduction and brief play about the Iroquois legend of the Three Sisters and its corresponding gardening tradition. This tradition of planting corn, beans and squash (the sisters) in close proximity is widespread among Native American farming. At the same time the story functions as a metaphor for supporting and helping one another.

After the skit, the children were divided into groups and each group moved on to an activity station. One group and its chaperones built a teepee. The other, shucked corn and picked beans from bean plants. After ten minutes the groups switched and tried the other activity.

After fifteen minutes of activities, the students had a brief snack then proceeded to the Student Technology Resource Center (STAC) where video was taken of them in front of a green screen. At that point the video was superimposed onto an image of the Great Plains and an American Indian village complete with moving buffalo.

Finally, as a parting gift, each child received the book D is for Drum: A Native American Alphabet by Debbie and Michael Shoulders and Irving Toddy. The event lasted approximately an hour and at no time did our worries of waning attention spans among the children materialize. They never once lost interest. A success, if we  do say so!  And a huge thanks to all who assisted.

Please plan to attend the Native Voices: Native American Concepts of Health and Illness opening event on Thursday, July 26th in the CARE/Crawley Atrium of the UC  Medical Sciences Building.  And stay tuned for the six weeks of supplementary programming the HSL has planned.

Please see the gallery below for more images of the event.

 

Artifact from the Future: Summer 2018 UC Scholars Program

Posted on by

The Winkler Center would like to thank Nandita Baxi Sheth (DAAP) and the University of Cincinnati Scholars Program for seeking the Center’s participation in the Summer 2018 Scholars Program titled Artifact from the Future: A Trans Disciplinary Critical Inquiry Experience.

The UC Scholars Program brought Hughes STEM High School 10th and 11th grade students to the University of Cincinnati for a two-week residential, immersive summer critical thinking experience that:

  • built skills through problem based and experiential learning activities
  • provided exposure to multiple UC Colleges and Programs, degrees, and careers
  • provided on campus residential living experience
  • introduced community and industry partners
  • developed mindfulness and self-care practices
  • developed collaborative, leadership, and study skills

The program planned all these learning activities and experiences through a lens of thematic inquiry.

The theme of inquiry for the summer ‘18 Scholars was a deep consideration of the future. Using a wide-range of multimedia and disciplinary approaches including the anthropocene, speculative fiction, science fiction, afrofuturism, and technology, students delved into prospective world scenarios and dystopian futures, and were charged with developing artifacts from that future.

One stop for the scholars was the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions.  There, curator, Gino Pasi, gave a workshop for the students which included an introduction to archives, curatorship and public history, and a brief overview of what it is the Winkler Center actually does. Students then were introduced to health science-related artifacts from the past.

Student examines a kymograph (an early blood pressure montoring device) at the Winkler Center

Students are introduced to artifacts at the Winkler Center

After that, four teams of scholars were created and each team received an artifact to examine, describe, and then use in a story, play, poem, or some other written work to be presented at the end of the workshop.  The Winkler Center objects given to the students included the “iron lung,” an electro-convulsive therapy unit, a baby incubator from the 1950s, and a “quackery” cure-all from the 1930s called the Electraply. Amazingly each team described and guessed the proper uses of each artifact without any hints or clues.

 

A team examines the Iron Lung.

Students work to describe there artifacts.

Another team examines the “Electraply” device

We hope the students enjoyed not only their Winkler Center experience, but also the rest of their time here at UC. We hope to see them here in the future. For more on this year’s scholars program see:  https://www.rtefakt.org/

Ira Abrahamson Jr., M.D.

Posted on by

Well, we lost another one. It is with sadness that we report the passing of our friend Dr. Ira Abrahamson, Jr. last Saturday, March 10.

At Ira’s home, June 2017

Personally, it is Dr. Abrahamson’s humor and amiability that I will remember most–so just a quick story before the more formal obituary, which I hope Ira would appreciate.

I had only been at the Winkler Center about two weeks when Dr. Abrahamson showed up with several family members to see his collection and the small exhibit we have on his life and career. I was nervous meeting my first Winkler Center donor, but he immediately set me at ease. He reminded me that the hand of his I had just shaken was a hand also shaken by two popes from whom he had received papal blessings (he had the photographs to prove it). He then tried to convince me that the blessings bestowed on him by those pontiffs now had been conferred on me. I said “if that’s the case, then give me your other hand so I can shake it…why leave anything to chance?” He laughed. I felt better. We would share jokes from that point forward whenever he would visit the Winkler bringing in more materials or just friends with whom to share his many accomplishments. We’ll miss him.

The following obituary was sent to all faculty/staff of the College of Medicine on Wednesday, March 14. It is reprinted here with permission from the UC College of Medicine Dean’s Office.

Dr. Abrahamson attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a swimming scholarship. He received his medical degree from the UC College of Medicine in 1948, as did his sister, Margaret, in 1946 and his son, Richard, in 1987. He completed his internship at Cincinnati General Hospital and his residency at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. He served for a year in the U.S. Coast Guard and then in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953 during the Korean War. Following military service, he returned to his native Cincinnati to practice with his father, Ira Abrahamson Sr., MD, who also was an ophthalmologist and on faculty at the College of Medicine.

A member of our faculty since 1964, Dr. Abrahamson rose to full professor before being named an emeritus professor in 2004.
Dr. Abrahamson became one of the first ophthalmic photographers in the world and invented several techniques to photograph the eye. Many of his images were used in his books on ophthalmology and eye care. He also traveled around the world lecturing, teaching and providing vision care to disadvantaged children.
Dr. Abrahamson received numerous honors in his lifetime, including the College of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008 and the President’s Award of Excellence in 2014 from the University of Cincinnati. In 2001 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of North Carolina, and in 2000 he was named an Outstanding Philanthropist by Boston Children’s Hospital. He was inducted into the Medical Mission Hall of Fame in 2007 for his contributions to advancing the quality of life of others around the world. He even had audiences with three popes: Pius XII, Paul VI and John Paul II.

Dr. Abrahamson had a tremendous impact on vision care, education and research for more than 60 years. He worked tirelessly to eliminate preventable blindness in children, not only here in Cincinnati but around the world. In 1995, he created the Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute at Cincinnati Children’s. Working with the Cincinnati Rotary Club, the institute started the Vision Screening Program through Rotary International where 800 local chapters eventually joined in the program to detect vision problems in young children.

“Declaring that the street currently knowns as Shillito Place shall hereby receive the honorary secondary name of “Dr. Ira Abrahamson Way by legislative action of the May and City Council in honor…” Dr. Abrahamson getting his street, October, 2016

Dr. Abrahamson receives the University of Cincinnati President’s Award for Excellence from previous UC President, Santa Ono, 2014

 

Billie Broaddus

Posted on by

Billie Broaddus with Heloisa Sabin at the Albert B. Sabin Historical Marker Dedication, June, 2013

The Winkler Center was saddened last week to learn of the passing of former Health Sciences Librarian and Director of the Cincinnati Medical Heritage Center (Winkler Center), Billie Broaddus. Billie is remembered fondly by the colleagues who knew and worked with her. “She often used the ‘iron fist in the velvet glove’ and was able to achieve much through that approach,” remembered Senior Librarian Sharon Purtee.

From 1961 to 1971 Billie worked at the University of Kentucky Medical Library. She graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.S. in History in 1973 and a M.S.L.S in Library Science in 1974. She began work at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Library in August, 1974 as Head of Reference. She later became the Coordinator of Information Services and then Head of the Health Sciences Library. Serving a dual role in 1981, she directed both the Health Sciences Library and the History of Health Sciences Library. Later that year, she applied to become director of the historical collections, a job in which she could merge her love of history with her library experience.

She held the position of Director, University of Cincinnati Medical Heritage Center until her retirement in 2003. Billie was professionally active in several organizations, including the Medical Library Association, and served on many professional committees. She was elected President of the Midwest Chapter/Medical Library Association in 2001. Billie was also a member of the Archivists and Librarians in History of the Health Sciences and the Ohio Academy of Medical History, the American Association for the History of Medicine, the Ohio Academy of Sciences, the Society of Ohio Archivists and the Cincinnati Academy of Medicine History Committee.

During her tenure as Director of the Medical Heritage Center, the archives of alumni and faculty including, Drs. William Altemeier, Charles D. Aring, Stanley Block, Benjamin Felson, Martin Fisher, and Robert Kehoe were all added to the repository’s holdings. Forging personal relationships with the Sabin family, she was instrumental in bringing the Albert B. Sabin Papers to the Center. In addition, Broaddus supervised the centralization into one repository of the many decentralized historical collections of the departments within the College of Medicine.

She was adamant too that because the Heritage Center served a different audience than the Health Sciences Library, the two institutions keep somewhat distinct identities. In the early 1990s as the UC Libraries developed an online presence for its collections, Broaddus made sure the Heritage Center was given its own webpage. Under Broaddus’s leadership, the Medical Heritage Center became a preeminent resource center for the history of the health sciences. She served the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Libraries for almost 30 years and was appointed Librarian Emerita when she retired from the University of Cincinnati in February 2003.

Another colleague, Edith Starbuck, remembers “Billie was a generous colleague [who] shared her knowledge and skills without hesitation…[she] also knew how to bring history to life with her wealth of knowledge and ability to tell the stories about the individuals whose information and artifacts were housed in the Heritage Center.

Wallet Hip, Seinfeld, and Dr. Charles Thomas Wehby

Posted on by

Pg. 1, City of Cincinnati Ordinance # 56, 2017. Click to read.

Last week, the Winkler Center received word that in March 2017 a street in Cincinnati had been renamed in honor of Dr. Charles Thomas Wehby, a 1938 UC College of Medicine graduate. Wehby had a general practice office for many years on Broadway between 4th and 5th streets in downtown Cincinnati and served the community as a general practitioner from 1939-1983. His medical practice was noted for its willingness to serve all members of the community regardless of race, ethnicity, or one’s ability to pay. The city ordinance naming the northwest corner of Broadway Street at 4th St. “Dr. Charles Thomas Wehby Corner” also states that Wehby had “donated machines and medical antiques to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.” Hmmm? Could those machines or antiques have made their way to the Winkler Center?  It’s possible; but not surprisingly, I uncovered no documentation of a donation. As an archive, the Winkler Center is not alone in its frustration of documentation growing sparser the older the donation. Years ago items often were donated with nothing more than a handshake.

Intriguing as this all was, what intrigued me more on the ordinance was a listing of Dr. Wehby’s research interests. It states that Dr. Wehby “published numerous medical articles and made many contributions to medical science including his discovery of ‘wallet hip’ or wallet syndrome which was published in the Ohio State Medical Journal, 1968.” Wait a second? WALLET HIP!?! WHAT?!? WALLET SYNDROME!?!

We all laughed and scoffed a bit back in the late 1990s at that episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza develops sciatic nerve issues from carrying around a huge wallet. I have to admit that as a wallet carrier at the time, the idea of someone developing lower back issues from frequently sitting on a large lump in one’s back pocket made perfect sense to me. I just didn’t think it was a real medical thing.

So thank you Dr. Wehby not only for the compassion you showed the city in your desire to treat its sick regardless of their circumstance, but also for setting the world straight on Wallet Hip!  We are indebted…and so are our L5s and S1s.

The only data the Winkler holds on Dr. Wehby is an old alumni card kept by the College of Medicine which contains addresses, date of birth, other contact information, etc. So in lieu of any image or further information on Dr. Wehby, enjoy a few minutes of George Costanza’s lumbar destroying wallet found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPf98i8A0g. We think Dr. Wehby would have enjoyed it too.

Cincinnati Pharmaceutical Association

Posted on by

The Ohio Pharmacist, highlighting the unique black recruiting program.

Recently, the Henry R. Winkler Center received a donation of materials that are now titled the Cincinnati Pharmaceutical Association: Diversity Recruitment History Collection. It is one of the Winkler Center’s long overdue first steps in attempting to document African American involvement in the city’s health professions.

The Cincinnati Pharmaceutical Association, also known as CinPha is an organization of African American Pharmacists in and around the Cincinnati area. In 1975, Ruby Hill and other black pharmacists in Cincinnati formed the organization due to poor recruitment of minorities into the University of Cincinnati, more specifically, the College of Pharmacy. The group was also formed as a professional organization which would allow African Americans an opportunity to network, build professional relationships, and stay current on trends and developments in the pharmacy profession. CinPha is the oldest African American pharmacy organization in the city. Originally known as the Cincinnati Black Pharmacists Association, in 1984, Dr. Robert L. Thomas became the organization’s president and the name was changed to Cincinnati Pharmaceutical Association CPhA. In February, 1989, the acronym “CinPha” was adopted to represent the association.

The primary objectives of the association include:

  • Maintaining minority representation in the profession of pharmacy
  • Educating the general public on matters regarding pharmacy and health care with a focus on the minority population
  • Maintaining interaction with other groups and organizations in order to promote the practice of pharmacy and health care in general
  • To provide a forum for updating the membership on issues, concepts and developments pertaining to pharmacy
  • Support and maintain a code of ethics for pharmacists.

Jerry Rucker, the collection’s donor, was a graduate of the UC College of Pharmacy and practiced his career as a registered pharmacist. He collected the materials in this collection and served as the president of CinPha for several years. We thank Mr. Rucker for his donation and look forward to the collection growing in the future.

Jerry Rucker’s copy of a program from the annual Norris ‘ Bus’ Gordon scholarship dinner/dance.

One of the first advertisements from the UC College of Pharmacy targeted toward minority students.

This blog was written by Charles Talarico.

 

Dr. Philip Wasserman

Posted on by

The Winkler Center was honored a few weeks ago to host Sherry Wasserman, her sister Naomi Hordes, and Naomi’s husband Jess who were here to donate a photo album which was presented as a gift to Sherry and Naomi’s father, Dr. Philip Wasserman, who for many years was the Director of the Clinical Laboratory at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati

The book, which staffers had professionally bound and printed, primarily focuses on Dr. Wasserman, but also contains numerous images of the Jewish Hospital Clinical Laboratory before and after its expansion in the 1950s; it’s staff, doctors, and nurses; and activities that occurred at the lab primarily in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Dr. Philip Wasserman began work as a pathologist at the Jewish

From L to R, Naomi Hordes (nee Wasserman), Sherry Wasserman, and Lori Harris, Assistant Director of the Health Sciences Library and the Winkler Center.

Hospital in 1937. He was made Director of the Clinical Lab in 1941 and stayed in that position until he retired from it in 1979.  Though officially retiring as Lab Director, Dr. Wasserman continued to work as a general pathologist.

During his tenure at the lab, Dr. Wasserman oversaw its expansion, development, and growth from a small department employing a “handful” of people to one which employed nearly 200.  Wasserman was well-regarded also as a progressive thinker. He established a residency program bringing foreign physicians to Cincinnati for training and was far ahead of his time especially as it related to integration. He was noted for hiring people of any color, creed, or ethnicity, so long as they could accomplish the job, a somewhat novel idea in Cincinnati in the 1950s.

Images in the book were taken by Jane Hutzelman who worked at the lab as a clinical photographer. She created the photo history and presented it to Dr. Wasserman upon the completion of the new lab in the 1950s.  The book is inscribed “To Dr. Wasserman: as a token of our appreciation for the wonderful laboratory.”

Not only will this photo history be a wonderful supplement to the Jewish Hospital Collection here at the Winkler Center, but so too will it be a testament to the work and career of Dr. Wasserman.

An image from the book–the Wasserman girls with their father at the old Clinical Laboratory, Jewish Hospital, c. 1955

 

We thank Sherry Wasserman, Naomi Hordes (nee Wasserman), and Carol Deanow (nee Wasserman)  for considering the Winkler Center when it came time to find a home for this family treasure.

Works Used

“In Remembrance,” Cincinnati Medicine November, 1998.

 

Cecil Striker Lecture and Exhibit a Success

Posted on by
We had to take a few days to recoup but now that we have here are a few images of last Thursday’s Cecil Striker Lecture, “African American Physicians in Cincinnati: Past, Present & Future.”
A multi-generational panel of physicians was moderated by Dr. Elbert Nelson and included Drs. Chester Pryor, Charles Dillard, Camille Graham, and Christopher Lewis. Each panelist discussed a bit of their personal stories, including obstacles and successes as African American physicians, their early mentors, and heroes, etc. After the discussion, attendees were invited to a reception and an exhibit opening of the same name in the Winkler Center’s Lucas Room. For now, these are the only images we have from the event, but more will follow. Stay tuned. And thank you to everyone who helped make the evening a huge success.

Staff of the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions

L to R, Drs. Philip Diller, Chester Pryor, Charles Dillard, Elbert Nelson, Camille Graham, Christoper Lewis

 

Panelist Bios

Exhibit Panels

Exhibit Panel

Continue reading →

African American Physicians in Cincinnati: Past, Present, & Future

Posted on by

The Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions and the University of Cincinnati Libraries are proud to sponsor the 2017 annual Cecil Striker Lecture and exhibit.  This year the program is entitled African American Physicians in Cincinnati: Past, Present & Future and features an inter-generational panel discussing challenges faced in the early integration of all-White hospitals and medical colleges, holding those doors open for others, the current state of African American physicians, and many other topics.

A corresponding exhibit chronicling the history not only of African Americans in the health professions in Cincinnati, but also, the history of health care opportunities for African Americans in the city opens on the same date.

We hope you can make it for this enlightening discussion and exhibit. Click on the invitation at right for more information and to RSVP.

In the meantime enjoy some images from the exhibit.